South Carolina Highway 707

History

South Carolina Highway 707 began as an unpaved cow path in an area that was once largely rural. In the late 1970s, the route that South Carolina Highway 707 currently takes was previously signed as South Carolina Highway 544 from Murrells Inlet to the current intersection of Dick Pond Road in Socastee. At that time, South Carolina Highway 707 began at Socastee, followed Socastee Boulevard and parts of the then-unbuilt U.S. Route 17 bypass north of the Myrtle Beach International Airport before terminating at U.S. Highway 501 on the route of the current Robert Grissom Parkway.

Much of the landscape traversed through the area was farmland until the 1980s when suburban growth began to occur outside of Myrtle Beach. Most of the growth around the area has continued into the 2000s, with development of golf courses, neighborhoods, and subdivisions being common in pockets along the fourteen-mile length. St. James High School opened on the highway near Burgess, South Carolina in 2002.

Widening project

Because the area has experienced rapid growth within recent years, and because of increased traffic expected from the completion of Carolina Bays Parkway to S.C. 707, the South Carolina Department of Transportation has decided to widen the highway from near Enterprise Road south of South Carolina Highway 544 to U.S. 17 at the Horry-Georgetown county line. Much of the 9.2-mile project is being funded through the one-percent Horry County sales tax increase by the 'Riding on a Penny' program. The first public meeting on the road project was held in August 2008. Right of way acquisitions were set to begin late in 2010 with construction starting in spring or summer of 2011.

However, the Carolina Bays Parkway extension and the S.C. 707 widening were combined into one project in 2010, and in March of that year changes were made to plans for the parkway. After many delays, a groundbreaking for both projects took place November 6, 2013 at the future interchange of S.C. 544 and Carolina Bays Parkway. The $105 million S.C. 707 project was expected to be finished in Spring 2017.

Farrow Parkway interchange

The intersection of South Carolina Highway 707 with U.S. Highway 17 at Farrow Parkway, known as the "back gate" of the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, has seen increased traffic with the construction of The Market Common, expansion of the Myrtle Beach International Airport and other development on and near the former base. One of the first priorities for Horry County's program 'Riding on a Penny' was to build a grade-separated interchange connecting the two roads together. The projected cost of the project was $49,500,000. The recommended configuration of the interchange, due to limiting right-of-way space and heavy traffic demands, is a single-point urban interchange. Also, U.S. 17 must go over a 35-foot-high, 1,200-foot long bridge because the soil cannot support a stronger bridge without work that would have delayed the project. As of April 2010, the projected cost had more than doubled to $107 million. Interchange construction began June 6, 2011, and the projected completion date was August 2014. Soil conditions and weather caused many delays. On October 23, 2014, a ribbon cutting took place for the completion of what became a $121.7 million project. The southbound lanes opened earlier that week, and the northbound lanes were opening the next week. Pavement markings, signs and other details would not be complete until November. The project also included more turn lanes on U.S. 17, frontage roads, and the addition of Coventry Boulevard as an alternate route around the interchange.